I get what he’s trying to say, but it’s a stretch to call his tilt with Okami a “date”

Perhaps it’s pointless to write an aftermath article for an Anderson Silva fight anymore. Not necessarily because he hasn’t lost since 2006, but rather, because Anderson Silva summed up his dominance of the middleweight division perfectly himself. After his victory over Yushin Okami last night, Kenny Florian asked Anderson Silva if there’s anyone out there he would like to fight next. His response? “My clone”.

This doesn’t mean that Yushin Okami doesn’t deserve credit for his performance. If Yushin Okami had any chance of beating Anderson Silva, it was going to involve getting Silva on his back and avoiding submissions. Okami started out well enough, pushing Silva into the cage and clinching with the far superior striker. The only problem was that Okami was completely unable to take Silva down. After eating a head kick at the end of the first round, it was only a matter of time before the gun-shy challenger got caught again.

It took Mauricio “Shogun” Rua just under two minutes to prove that he still belongs in the mix at light-heavyweight. Fighting in Brazil for the first time since 2003, Shogun capitalized on Griffin’s attempt to push the pace and avenged his loss to Griffin from 2007. Aside from knocking Griffin out last night, Shogun may have permanently knocked Griffin out of contention for another light-heavyweight title shot. It’s been fun while it lasted, but perhaps it’s time for Griffin to be relegated to the proverbial old guy division.

In other action, Edson Barboza predictably defeated Ross Pearson, though the fight was far closer than most anticipated it being. Barboza may have gotten the victory, but it’s hard to imagine his stock rising after barely getting by a handpicked opponent. Meanwhile, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who essentially made a career out of coming back from early damage to win fights, showed us more of the same in his comeback victory over Brendan Schaub. Perhaps Schuab, who was in trouble early against Cro Cop in his last fight, wasn’t as ready for the step up in competition as we were led to believe. Likewise, Big Nog looked slow and vulnerable for most of the fight. While it’s still an impressive victory for Nogueira, it’s also premature to declare that he is back in the mix at heavyweight.

For the record, Luiz Cane is the only Brazilian on the card to lose to a foreign opponent, getting knocked out by Stanislay Nedkov. Cane has now lost three of his last four. Luis Ramos, who fought fellow Brazilian Erick Silva, was the only other Brazilian to lose last night.

Cagepotato Comments

Showing 1-25 of comments

danomite: you gotta be fucking kidding me. you actually think Fitch, Shields and Koscheck can beat Silva. Get the fuck out of here. These guys couldn't take GSP down and beat him, it's absolutely hilarious that you think they can take a faster, leaner Silva down, let alone beat him.
I think the best fight for Silva right now is John Jones but John Jones still has to prove himself against the likes of Rampage and Machida. Other than that, the fight against GSP makes more and more sense. I don't think GSP will be an easy opponent for Silva. Here's why: (a) he's fucking smart and comes up with great strategies each time. (b) he's not afraid and won't have anything to lose in the fight. (c) superman punch. Make it happen, Danna!

Chuck_W- August 29, 2011 at 2:39 pm

Anyone saying that 185 is full of Bums ever consider that maybe Anderson is making good fighters look like Bums? He's beat the best there is in the UFC at MW...Hendo, Franklin, Sonnen, Leben, Marquardt...you think what Munoz or Stann is gonna have the answer. The problem is that 5 rounds is just too long to give that guy to figure someone out. It kills me that in Fighting, of all sports, is the one where when a guy is dominant that he isn't applauded the competition is derided. He kicked Belfort ass so quick I had forgot about it...seriously who else does he have to fight to get some respect. But I guess thats just the way it goes right...so I guess Cain Velasquez is a bum too cause the only guy he beat was Lesnar...a paper champ that was given the belt with only 6 fights to his credit.

Chuck_W- August 29, 2011 at 2:20 pm

Okami quit cause he was way over matched and scared. Anderson did what he does best...FIGHT. There is no 185er that can beat him...I want to see him and H. Lomard go at it or Jacare...see the major American promotion belts united.

XENOPHON- August 29, 2011 at 11:43 am

@RwilsonR
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As you and many others claim, Anderson Silva is just that fucking good...
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...the real problem - his lanky ass will never be truly great if he hides in a weight class where there is no one left to prove anything against.
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After getting the shit kicked out of me here, I know and respect nearly all your views - and like you I don't pull my punches. That being said, the crew around here is tough bunch of subject matter experts. So you all tell me how fucked up I am after hearing me plead my case a second time.
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Let CP play catch-up and ask the obvious in an article if they want - I want send them an invoice this time around (GRIN.)
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It's now time for Anderson to eat some of those Whopper meals he pimps, add the 20 pounds, get rid of the purple shimmy suits and and put on his big girl panties with the Light Heavies?
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Anderson has hid (or maybe contractually and intentionally hid by the UFC) in the middleweight ranks for far too long - his title is now a fraud. No one here can defend that he is not Zuffa's cash cow and little prince for drawing fans at each event.
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Regardless if Anderson will admit it, he could have built even a higher degree of greater fame,...and got the credit for retiring Choclate-al. Instead that big bite in MMA history is forever held by Pink Franklin. A guy he destroyed several times over.
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As a light heavy give me the name of one person that would stomp the shit out of Anderson Silva?
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Ortiz, Franklin, Davis, Griffin, Henderson, Machida, Jackson, Evans, or Rua? No way in hell. Anderson has already already canned 3 of of them 4 times over, and he won't fight Machida for personal reasons - big deal.
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This leaves maybe 1-2 fights at most, then onto Jones. That is if Jones himself can manage to manage to stay injury free and keep his belt own belt strapped. Fucking whole thing can be done in less than a year, and FOX would clean house with the ratings and the revenue.

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Regardless of what Sonnen spouts, Anderson need not ever waste his time and fight Sonnen again. It was a close call for 4/5th's of the fight, but he decisively forced the felon to tap. Sonnen had his chance, and even pumped with Cialis, the fact is Chael couldn't keep it up long enough while mounted to shoot his own wad.
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In less than two 2-3 years, Anderson (with the help of Burger King) could even put on a few pounds and go after the Heavyweights. At 36 years old he has time, if you really think he is that good.
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Or he had a reap pair, he could walk from the fucking UFC, go to every other organization, and clean the plate of every other Middleweight and Light-Heavyweight on the face of the planet.

XENOPHON- August 29, 2011 at 10:24 am

@Me likey
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I see, and the way I see it was that Fitch was taught a big fucking lesson.
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He had his chain jerked of the kids game issue. Listen to him from the years ago in interviews before the UFC stomp him with DoC Martens, and listen to him today. He now literally plays to their game.
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Most of these fuckers (who are not bad guys) have had their balls snipped.

danomite- August 29, 2011 at 10:08 am

and as far as his 3 submissions go, one was to Chael Sonnen, the king of getting subbed from top control, the second was to a half-unconscious dan henderson, and the third was to Travis Lutter, who was both physically and emotionally drained from his failed weight cut. And the Lutter sub wasn't even a real submission. He had him in a triangle forever and couldn't sink it in and had to elbow him in the head to get him to tap. Anybody here think that Lutter even deserved a title shot? How about Leites, who 2 fights previous would have lost to Marquardt if not for point deductions? or Cote, or Maia, who was coming of a 1 fight win streak after getting KO'd by marquardt in 1 minute?

danomite- August 29, 2011 at 9:59 am

yeah, I do think they are bums. In their minds they've already lost and yet they still stand there right in front of him. Yushin Okami stands in front of him for 6 or 7 minutes and can only manage to attempt 1 half-assed single leg? anybody at this point who thinks they're best shot with anderson silva is striking is either too stupid or lacks the skills necessary to deserve a title shot. Forget being the best striker in MMA, he would be one of the best in K1. If someone thinks they can beat that then they are a FUCKING BUM! Of the top of my head I could name at least four guys at 170lbs who, given the chance, could take anderson silva down: GSP, Fitch, Shields, Koscheck. If you put any of those four guys in a ring with AS and said 'I'll give you a million dollars if you can take him down and keep him down without getting knocked out' I guarantee they'd each walk away a million dollars richer.

Me likey- August 29, 2011 at 6:13 am

@xeno
fitch definatley isn't dana's golden boy. he has been released by the ufc for not wanting to sign over his likeness rights and been jumped over numerous times for gsp fights.

Duh Ogre- August 29, 2011 at 4:57 am

Brian Stann doesn't stand a chance again Silva or any good wrestler. I would like to see Fitch move up to middleweight and take on silva. We saw how well Sonnen did, how about a guy who is known for laying and praying and has the record to prove it

RSparrow- August 29, 2011 at 3:02 am

Brian Stann.

Todd M- August 28, 2011 at 9:14 pm

@ RWR agreed, What if Chael had beat Silva,Frightening I know, All this he should leave MW talk would be mute. The choice is up to Anderson, and allthough I too would like to see Silva take on new challenges, MW is far from being a shelf of cans. Stann vs Sonnen will produce a legit challenger so lets at least wait for that fight. As for Okami, well he choked big time. Have a look at him during Bruce Buff's intro, packin darkies, dude didn't even do his sword slash gimmick. Okami knew he got fucked the first time and didn't feel like going out to dinner twice.

RwilsonR- August 28, 2011 at 8:53 pm

Rather than appreciate greatness, you simply think the rest of the division are bums? MW may not be the most stacked division ever, but Okami is a high quality fighter and Anderson made him look silly. That isn't because Okami is so bad, it is because Anderson is so good.

XENOPHON- August 28, 2011 at 5:08 pm

@danomite and Vanillagorilla69
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Like each of you say, the entire senior ranks for that division are not close to being competitive. Sonnen (for as much as I like him) can't be counted as he is one the 94% who was stupid enough got caught pissing hot.
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You ask about bums, looking at the next tier of contenders, that is all Joe Silva has to substitute in. As for the entire division, you are right - it’s because everyone is scared of him, he kicks ass.
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As I said on another post, after 5 years...he needs to move on. I'd rather see Anderson lose to Light Heavyweights then to waste any more time as a Middleweight. This is not boxing.
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Willy Pep won 229, lost 11, drawn 1. He fought 16 times per year and at one point he won 73 fights in row. Take a look at other fight champions of past.
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http://druhepkins.hubpages.com/hub/Top-Ten-Greatest-Boxers-of-All-Time
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If Anderson was a true champion, he would go and fight the next 3-5 largest organizations, and the UFC should welcome such a move or if terrified he could be defeated - force him to move up in weight.
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Face it, not even Anderson or all the "Fitch and Sonnen" types that are documented with their love for sucking their CEO's cock in public, are simply 1/2 of the fraud problem.
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Unlike BJ Penn and Krzysztof Soszynski few others who dare to ever speak up. How can anyone who signs more autographs then they do, throw punches in the ring ever be legitimately viewed as a real champion / fighter?
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Anderson Silva has now officially become the UFC's biggest fucking and highest paid can crusher!

madcowboy- August 28, 2011 at 4:21 pm

Hey Dana now maybe you can get some real competitors for Spider like set up some super fights Bone Jones, GSP, Cain, ect He only has 2-3 fights left better maximize the money while you can with him. Move him up to Light Heavy permanently at least....9 title defenses its time to move on now!!!!!!!!!that division is his bitch

Get Off Me- August 28, 2011 at 4:21 pm

@Danomite
" Anderson Silva’s weakness is the ground"

Not really seeing as he has both finished 3 of his UFC fights from there and was able to control his opponent from the position.
BJJ is a wonderful martial art and Anderson is a prime example of how effective it can be used in an MMA fight. I know, I know Chael was beating Anderson on the cards while Anderson was on his back, in reality however he finished the fight from the same place which kinda makes you wonder if Anderson did not control Chael inside his guard for that fight as opposed to "getting his ass kicked" as so many love to proclaim.
Anderson may only be perceived as weak on the ground due to the way that this sport is judged, which is flawed, which Anderson proved against Sonnen. A BJJ fighter controlling a wrestler inside his guard would have lost that fight, but Anderson took a fight that would have been 50-45 x3 and turned it into a submission victory, after attempting many submissions over the course of the fight. The judging does not account for BJJ and so everytime we see a fighter on his back he is perceived as weak or in a disadvantaged state, but Anderson has not got burned yet(at his best and worst) and this leads me to believe that he is a complete fighter with no single weakness other than injuries that may weaken any fighter. A healthy Anderson is untouchable and an unhealthy Anderson is unbeatable so far in the UFC, this is what we know for sure.

Vanillagorilla69- August 28, 2011 at 3:19 pm

Ya know, I really try to think of why the guy wins all of the time, and I really do believe it's because everyone's scared of him. The guy wrecks.

danomite- August 28, 2011 at 2:35 pm

Okami deserves credit for what? Shitting his pants in fear before the fight even started? He went in there, got punched, fell down, turtled up, and collected his paycheck. I've seen people take actual dives that were more convincing than that. As soon as he hit the ground he quit. He didn't even try to tie him up, he just turtled and waited for herb to stop it. Everyone, including him, knew that the only way he could win was to take silva down, and all he can muster up is 1 single leg that he lets go of before anderson could even really try to defend it? You have got to be kidding me. What did he think he was going to accomplish by standing there trying to box with silva? Silva even dropped his hands begging Okami to punch him and all Okami had the heart to do is throw a few weak jabs that end up getting him dropped.

When is the UFC gonna stop feeding Anderson bums? Or maybe bums are all that exists at middleweight. When is the last time anderson had a title fight where a majority of the fans weren't questioning whether or not the challenger even deserved the title shot, let alone have an actual chance at winning? Maybe Chael Sonnen? Other than him, you'd have to go all the way back to dan henderson. Anderson Silva's weakness is the ground, and the fact that the UFC has only been able to give him 2 good wrestlers (one of which has been submitted 8 times in his career and the other thinking he was a striker) in his entire 14 fight UFC career is pretty sad.

It's almost ironic that Chael worked with Okami, because Okami did EXACTLY what Chael said not to do to beat Anderson Silva. He got intimidated and stopped bringing the fight to Anderson. For that matter, his wrestling looked like he spent months training with Dan Hardy, but I digress.

Get Off Me- August 28, 2011 at 12:14 pm

Most importantly...I won't like, but I see Nog/Carwin next.
I would like Kongo or Mitrione for Big Nog right now.
Eventhough Carwin is obviously "dieting" differently, he still has the power to knock out Nog and I would hate to see that inevitable finish if they fought each other.

CungwantsCookies- August 28, 2011 at 11:45 am

okami was outmatched and outclassed from the start. the entire western world knew that he had to take anderson down and beat on him to win, and when he couldnt get him down, the deathclock started ticking double time. IMO sonnen gets destroyed in a rematch without flu symptoms and busted ribs. got to fight the fights though, so if sonnen gets past stann, i say make it happen. the only other thing that interests me for anderson at 85 is hendo, so we can see if the round he stole in the first fight was a fluke.

Cup Cheick- August 28, 2011 at 11:01 am

There is no damn conspiracy. Okami ate a pretty nasty knee in the clinch. Even when he was there he continued to let Silva slip into a full Thai clinch and stared at him. The guy looked scared from beginning to vegetative state at the end.

MoonBelly- August 28, 2011 at 10:49 am

Mongrel- Anderson landed a nice clean knee to Okami's ribcage right before he let go of the clinch. I think that may have been a factor.

Mongrel- August 28, 2011 at 10:32 am

Not taking anything away from Anderson, but what the hell was Okami doing...?
For no apparent reason, after having him pinned against the cage for a solid 2-3 minutes, he lets Silva out into the center only to have his head kicked clean off.
Then he follows up with just standing there like a starstruck retard almost as if he was waiting to get knocked out by the guy who's knocked out everyone else in that position.
I'm not sure, but it seems a little too convenient.

Dizzylittlelord- August 28, 2011 at 10:07 am

pearson fought so well, coming forward and pushing the pace, that fight was barboza's just by merit of his strikes sounding louder

NomadRip- August 28, 2011 at 9:39 am

The thing that surprised me most last night was realizing that Big Nog is a year YOUNGER than A Silva. I know genes count for much and all that, but I thought the Nogs were like Randy's age or something. No idea they are only 35. Does him saying he's back violate the "old me" ban?

Good fights by all. Chael should just be worrying about how to get past Stann right about now. Forest looked a pure, gangly mess out there last night. He was throwing such off-balance shots, he looked like it was his first time out there. I'm not saying he sucks, it just looked like he was not happy to be there or something was wrong.

That Pearson fight could have gone either way. Barboza was dangerously close to Starnesish through much of the fight, and I would have had a hard time arguing for either to win, and I don't see why it got FOTN honors.

newdeal- August 28, 2011 at 9:19 am

Okamis game plan was horrible. Other than a weak single leg against the cage he never tried for a takedown at all. He also never engaged silva, and gave silva plenty of time to find his distance. Basically his game plan was a recipe to get knocked out. Training with Chael obviously did no good. At the very least he should have learned that you need to put pressure on anderson so he can't find his range

Rampages Conscience- August 28, 2011 at 9:08 am

How do you have a card that takes place in Brazil without a single submission?

People are still interested in seeing GSP fight Anderson? St Pierre would get annihilated. There is no way in hell that he gets the fight to the mat and he would get beaten to death on the feet.

As for Jon Jones, this guy hasn't had enough fights to hold Anderson's jock strap for him. He's the new Machida, unbeatable until he fights someone who can hit him. Rampage might be the guy. The Shogun that blitzed Forrest last night could beat Jones, there's not a doubt in my mind about it.

buffalo_ben- August 28, 2011 at 8:54 am

Pearson got robbed

Get Off Me- August 28, 2011 at 8:50 am

Anyone else play the Nog-Nedkov-Silva-Thiago parlay I recommended in the gambling addiction enabler?
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As soon as "Come With Me" hit the speakers I knew I was on the right side with Big Nog. FYI to everybody who thinks Nog looked slow and shit, that's how he's always looked, he actually looked way better in this fight than he has in years.
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"Barboza may have gotten the victory, but it’s hard to imagine his stock rising after barely getting by a handpicked opponent."
Garbage, at the end of the fight Barboza looked a little tired, but in no way did he "barely" get by Ross Pearson, it's a three round fight, not a "what would have happend in the fourth round" fight. To the untrained eye, Barboza looks like he is getting hit and backing away, but in reality he stays on the end of his opponents shot and keeps his composure. I thought Ross put up a good effort as well, but it was pretty clear after the first 3mins that Barboza was going to win this fight, Pearson couldn't close the distance.
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My boy Anderson, I hope Chael was watching that because that's what's in store for him next. For all the inevitable mindless/baseless and delusional talk of Sonnen being able to beat Anderson in their rematch(after Sonnen hugs Stann on the mat for three rounds), please understand that Silva was moving around in this fight like were used to seeing him move around and he will do this to Chael in their rematch. All the "testosterone" in the world won't be able to help Chael beat Andersonand I doubt the fight goes to the ground either.
Lastly for the Chael lovers, please give me one instance where Chael has been in an entertaining fight that he didn't lose?

orlandomac- August 28, 2011 at 8:46 am

Nice fake shirt with his Coc-ky attitude you almost had me going under closer review the poor shading gave it away.